The Dark Eagle missile will allow the US Army to bypass current anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) umbrellas with ease.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth recently visited the Army’s Redstone Arsenal in Alabama to get an update on the various Army missile systems.
Army lieutenant general Francisco Lozano, director of Hypersonic, Directed Energy, Space and Rapid Acquisition, accompanied Hegseth and provided some interesting insights on the progress of one of the most ambitious programs in the US military.
The Dark Eagle Hypersonic Missile
Designed for the needs of the Army, the Dark Eagle Long Range Hypersonic Weapon (LRHW) is a medium-range surface-to-surface hypersonic missile. The munition consists of two parts: the missile itself and the hypersonic glide body. The Dark Eagle has a reported range of between 1,725 miles and 2,175 miles and a speed that can exceed Mach 5, or nearly 4,000 miles per hour.
During Hegseth’s visit, Army officials revealed that the Dark Eagle has a warhead that weighs less than 30 pounds—rather small for a long-range munition—but that it can level an area about the size of a parking lot.
According to the Army, the Dark Eagle is a “land-based, truck-launched system [that] is armed with hypersonic missiles that can travel well over 3,800 miles per hour. They can reach the top of the Earth’s atmosphere and remain just beyond the range of air and missile defense systems until they are ready to strike, and by then, it’s too late to react.”
The Army is serious about the Dark Eagle. In 2025, the service requested around $1.3 billion for the hypersonic weapon, including approximately $750 million for procurement of the missile itself, as well as over $500 million for research, development, testing, and evaluation. The Army has estimated that each Dark Eagle munition will cost approximately $41 million (in 2023 dollars).
The Army and Navy are cooperating on the hypersonic munition project to maximize the potential for both services by fielding advanced hypersonic missiles more quickly and cheaply. The Navy is working on a sea-launched version of the Dark Eagle under the Intermediate Range Conventional Prompt Strike weapon system.
Bypassing Enemy Air Defenses
During the meeting, the senior Army officer said that the Dark Eagle will be able to reach “mainland China from Guam,” Moscow from London, and Tehran from Qatar, sending a clear message to US adversaries about the destructive potential of the hypersonic missile under development.
What makes the Dark Eagle particularly useful for the Army is its ability to bypass current anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) umbrellas.
China, for example, has erected a powerful A2/AD umbrella around the South China Sea, aiming to prevent the US Navy from deploying warships, especially aircraft carriers, and aircraft near areas claimed by Beijing. A salvo of Dark Eagles, however, could bypass these defenses, suppressing the Chinese military’s anti-aircraft and anti-ship weapon systems and opening the way for the Navy’s aircraft carriers to join in the fight properly and flex their capabilities.
The continued development of the Dark Eagle hypersonic missile is good news for not just the Army but the wider US military as it prepares for potential future near-peer conflict with China or Russia.
About the Author: Stavros Atlamazoglou
Stavros Atlamazoglou is a seasoned defense journalist specializing in special operations and a Hellenic Army veteran (national service with the 575th Marine Battalion and Army HQ). He holds a BA from the Johns Hopkins University and an MA from the Johns Hopkins’ School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). His work has been featured in Business Insider, Sandboxx, and SOFREP
Image: DVIDS.
